Five myths of summer hockey programs

Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in the
April 2011 issue of New England Hockey Journal.

Selecting a power skating or hockey instructional program for
their children is never an easy task for hockey parents.

Quite honestly, how does a parent accurately evaluate a program?
The average hockey parent just doesn’t have enough knowledge
of the technical skills of the game to really assess whether a
program is providing what their player needs. Does it all come down
to the player’s enjoyment of the program? If they like it, it
must be worth it? Should the decision be based solely on
recommendations of other hockey parents or players? What might be
good for one, might not be good for another. So how do you know?
Where should hockey parents look for guidance?

The answers to these questions are not easy. There will always
be a little guesswork involved along with the homework that needs
to be done. Obviously, the player has to enjoy it first and
foremost. But there also has to be an instructional benefit and
improvement on the part of the player for real value to be
achieved. To aid you in your quest, here are some truths about the
greatest rinkside myths about hockey instructional programs.

1. A tired player makes a better player

Some people believe that the harder someone works, the better.
Not necessarily so. The harder a player works at doing something
correctly, the faster that player will improve. Simply skating a
class of players so they have red faces and sweaty heads gets you
exactly that, red faces and sweaty heads. For players to improve
their technical skills, the skills need to be broken down and
taught, giving the players a chance to make the necessary changes
to do things correctly. That takes time and patience and plenty of
reinforcement and feedback. Programs that have the players
constantly going and eventually tired out can’t be teaching
players the correct way of doing things. The players might be tired
at the end of the class, which for some parents equates to a good
program, but that is not always the case.

2. My child has the fundamental skills down and needs
more advanced training

Nobody ever has the fundamental skills mastered. Every player is
a work in progress, in varying stages of development. Fundamental
skating, stickhandling, passing and shooting skills are the basis
of the game. The players with the best fundamental skills are the
ones that have the opportunity to become the best players. Players
that don’t have the proper skating and puckhandling skills
always get exposed at some point. Working on fundamentals can
sometimes seem to be tedious and boring, but good programs find a
way to make it fun while also delivering the technical training
that players need. No matter how good a player might be at
something, they can always get faster and smoother.

3. My child needs to be in a group with better players
to improve

Instructional programs are not competitions. They are
instructional programs. There is always going to be an element of
competition involved, which isn’t a bad thing, but it should
be a very small part of the program. If a player is constantly
trying to compete, trying to keep up with someone else, they
can’t possibly be focusing on learning and improving and
making themselves better. They are too busy worrying about whether
they are going to win or lose or keep up with the better players.
While a player can improve in that manner, they don’t need an
instructional program or instructors to do so. And they definitely
will take a longer time to improve because it will be more from the
“School of Hard Knocks” than it will be from any
technical training that they receive.

4. A current or ex-pro player must be an excellent
instructor

A current or former professional player is probably a very
capable hockey player with excellent skating and puck skills, but
that has nothing to do with whether they can actually teach
children how to do what they can do. In fact, they might have no
idea how or why they do what they do, they just do it.
Understanding what goes into a skill, how to break it down and
communicate it to young players is a skill set that is more
important than being able to demonstrate those skills. Former
or current professional players will have the benefit of
“getting the attention” of the players they are
teaching and right off the bat they have the credibility that will
give them a head start on the teaching process. But they need to
understand what to teach and how to teach it and be able to get
inside the minds of the students to understand how they perceive
and learn.

5. Female figure skating instructors are the best
power skating trainers

They could be. But they just as easily could not be. There are
definitely a lot of parallels in technique between figure skating
and hockey skating. But they are also very much different. Skating
for hockey is a lot different than figure skating. Obviously
balance, leverage, power and speed are important elements of both.
But hockey is hockey. To be able to effectively teach power skating
for hockey, an instructor really needs to understand the game and
how the skating technique applies to certain situations that arise
in a game.

There are plenty of excellent power skating and hockey
instructional programs to choose from. There are also plenty of
duds out there. There is no substitute for experience. Generally
speaking, the programs that have been around the longest have
withstood the test of time. The ones that spring up for a year or
two and then are gone are the ones to be cautious about. To get it
right, take the time to do the homework. Don’t be
afraid to ask questions. But most of all make sure that you are
making your choice with realistic expectations.